Friday, November 30, 2012

One of my Muggings

I worked for the Postal Service as a time keeper/Data Collection Technician for about a dozen years. I worked at the Federal Annex in Atlanta, across the street from Rich's. And on the other side of the street, down a block was the Southern Railway building (above).

For years my reporting time was midnight. The official place us postal employees were to park was about a block behind the Southern Railway building next door to an old fire station. A street from the fire station led over a long railroad bridge and came out on Spring Street. The street went between the two Southern Railroad buildings. The two buildings were jointed up a couple levels by an multi level office bridge making it one big building.

One night it was drizzling rain and I was walking across the bridge about 11:30 when a man coming in the opposite direction crossed over the street to the same sidewalk I was on. We were approaching each other face to face and I noticed something not quiet right about the guy. He seemed nervous and staggering. When we got even he smiled and asked me if I had a cigarette. I said yes, and took out my pack of Winstons and hit the bottom so a cigarette would pop up so the man could take one.

He reach out but didn't take the cigarette but grabbed my arm. He told me he wanted my raincoat. I told him he couldn't have it. He grabbed around my body to take it anyway and we got into a scuffle. I flung him and he lost his balance and tripped on the curve and fell down. He didn't get up but was moaning.

I started to run. I have always been a one-track mind kind of person - once I start to do something I focus on that task. While running away from the fallen man I realized I did not complete what I sat out to do.

I U-turned myself and ran back to him and threw him my pack of Winstons and said, "Here! Take the whole pack!" And then ran all the way to the Federal Annex.